Laughter and Narrative in the Later Middle Ages: German Comic Tales 1350-1525 (review)

This study by Sebastian Coxon explores the interdependence of laughter and narrative in Schwankmären by the three most important and prolific fifteenth-century exponents of the genre: Heinrich Kaufringer, Hans Rosenplüt, and Hans Folz. His discussion is based upon a theoretical framework of theological, pedagogical, and secular views on laughter that underpinned medieval discourse on the subject, as well as modern theoretical assumptions that seem pertinent and compatible with medieval practice. Of particular significance is the notion that the collective public reception of vernacular literature lends itself to analysis in terms of "sociological notions of group-identity and laughter's communicative force of inclusion and exclusion" (17).

Coxon distinguishes two fundamental types of laughter in the Schwankmären: playful laughter that temporarily accepts transgressive behavior, and derisive or punitive laughter that functions as a tool of social regulation. In the texts examined here it is derisive laughter that predominates, laughter meant not to revitalize society and prevent its ossification through the "carnivalesque" in the Bakhtinian sense, but to reaffirm and regulate the values of the collective through the hostile ridicule of alternative or deviant values within it. The primary targets of ridicule are violations of the conventions of sex and marriage, individual gullibility, and the lack of social etiquette, but also the more serious and disruptive vices like vanity, clerical lechery or malice, and usury.

The prologues to the Schwankmären often explicitly state their intended purpose by promising to evoke laughter or merriment; in doing so, they establish a collective mentality that unites narrator and recipients of the text through their shared values. Similarly, the epilogues tend to state the moral of the tale and to encourage the recipients to relish the humiliation of those who fail to live up to shared expectations. The recipients' laughter at unacceptable behavior distances them from it, while the moral provides a virtuous excuse for their having taken such pleasure in that humiliation. A common technique for evoking laughter at the appropriate moment is the portrayal of laughter or smiling (smirking) within the narration itself, where it can signify, among other things, female lasciviousness or guile, or represent an uncontrolled physical response that signals perceptiveness or ignorance. Laughter, however, can be an affirmative act when it indicates general good will towards another character, moral superiority as a response to foolish or vulgar behavior, or serve as a cathartic or purgative experience that promotes healing. When a trickster laughs, it is meant to mislead and further his deception; however, when a morally flawed character does so in anticipation of triumph over another, it usually signals that a reversal is about to take place.

In a middle section Coxon examines those elements of narrative design that facilitate laughter: the chronotope, that is, representations of time and space, and direct speech. He observes that references to time are generally unspecific. Seasons are generally indicated through references to the ecclesiastical festivals associated with them, while May, with its connotations of springtime and love, is the only month to receive special mention. Specific days are also designated by references to the church year or associated with archetypal activities, such as church on Sunday or fasting on Friday. The day itself may be broken up into simple day versus night or into blocks of time made more exact by references to the canonical hours. Night is, as one might expect, associated with transgressive action, particularly when it is of a sexual nature, while the proverbial morning after brings to light the folly of the deceived. Similarly, sexual activity during the day is almost exclusively transgressive.

The narration of space in these texts focuses primarily on the domestic dwelling, which is subdivided into the public sphere of the stube and the intimate sphere of the bedroom, the primary site of nocturnal, marital sexual activity. Hidden spaces in the dwelling house secrets. Violation of the uses assigned to the public and private spheres both inside and...